Upon reflection, Ausmus issues another apology

Tigers manager plans on reaching out to women's advocacy groups

By
Jason Beck
MLB.com

DETROIT -- Brad Ausmus has had his share of nights recently when he's had trouble sleeping, still thinking about a loss. He had plenty more on his mind Wednesday evening.

Ausmus apologized immediately for his comments Wednesday, but he also knew that wouldn't put the matter to rest. He apologized more in-depth Thursday morning after spending Wednesday evening talking with his family, including his two teenage daughters and his wife of nearly 20 years, about what he had said.

"I didn't have a fun 12 hours," Ausmus said. "I didn't sleep well. Obviously, I talked to my wife and daughters about it. My daughters are on Twitter. They see it. It hasn't been a fun 12 hours."

Ausmus himself is well aware of social media. He has noted more than once that he has a Twitter account, though he doesn't tweet. Ausmus didn't need his kids to let him know the level of reaction his remarks, even with the apology, had generated online as well as in traditional media.

"In today's world, that's pretty standard," Ausmus said. "The truth is, I wasn't trying to trivialize or marginalize the problem of domestic abuse or minimize how awful of a thing it is. And I'm sorry.

"The last thing is, there's people in this room who know me: I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. I certainly wasn't trying to offend anyone. If I did, I'm honestly sorry for that because that's not what I was trying to do. …

"As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew it was insensitive. I wish I hadn't said it. At this point, other than saying I'm sorry, there's really nothing else I can do."

Likewise, Ausmus said he understood reporters were doing their job by chronicling it.

"I was well aware of what was going on," he said. "I take full blame for that."

Ausmus indicated that he plans on reaching out to women's advocacy groups, but he said that he would like to keep that private and separate from the team.

"I think I will do something on my own," he said, "but that isn't something that I'd do for public relations. I wouldn't tell you what I did or what my approach was going to be. I've discussed some things, and I'll do that on my own."